Abarth In Hot Water Over ‘Hot Wheels’ Style Ad

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an advert by Abarth for promoting dangerous driver, stating it ‘promoted risky road behavior from drivers’. In this world where it seems everything has to be wrapped up in cotton wool, the Abarth advert which shows four friends racing different models around a sunlit, fantasy city with steep inclines, tilts, spirals and rollercoaster-like bumps was deemed not acceptable by the ASA?!

FCA said it had been inspired by Hot Wheels children’s toys and the ad was intended to be fantastical in nature, and so did not encourage irresponsible driving and challenged the ruling, claiming that because the ad was produced outside the UK and uploaded on to YouTube, it did not fall within the watchdog’s remit.It went on to state that the ad’s setting was supposed to emulate a Hot Wheels track, in line with the strapline ‘Let’s play again’, displayed as on-screen text.

However the ASA noted that the ad was served as a pre-roll ad on YouTube and targeted at UK consumers, therefore the watchdog said the Hot Wheels reference would not be immediately obvious to all viewers and the roads depicted were not as far from reality as the company suggested. It again ruled that the ad condoned irresponsible driving that could be emulated, therefore breaching the CAP Code, they went on to state that the depiction of high speed driving meant that the ad “condoned or encouraged unsafe or irresponsible driving”. Fiat Chrysler was told “that speed must not be the focus of future ads, and to ensure they did not portray driving behaviour, including racing, that condoned or encouraged motorists to drive irresponsibly.”

We think it is a load of rubbish and most adverts on television are fantasy to some degree, take the irritating TUI advert with singing and dancing hotel staff parading about, which of course is a perfect reflection of what happens on your summer holiday?!